Beefmaster

Beefmaster
cattle have been developed by the Lasater Ranch then headquartered in Texas.
The breeding program leading to their establishment was started by Ed C. Lasater
in 1908, when he purchased Brahman
bulls to use on his commercial herd of Hereford
and Shorthorn cattle. The
first of these bulls that he used were principally of Gir
breeding, although some of the Nelore
breed were also used. In 1925 he introduced Guzerat blood into the herd.

Mr. Lasater also developed a registered Hereford herd in which the
cattle had red circles around each eye. In both his Brahman and Hereford
breeding,
milk production was stressed. Following his death in 1930, the breeding operations
came under the direction of his son, Tom Lasater, who began to combine the
breeding of the Brahman and Hereford cattle and also used some registered
Shorthorn bulls. After
making crosses of Brahman-Hereford and Brahman-Shorthorn, he felt a superior
animal had been produced and called the cattle "Beefmaster." The exact pedigree
of the foundation cattle was not known. The breeding operations were carried
on in multiple-sire herds nd rigid culling was practiced. The Lasater Ranch
estimates that modern Beefmaster have slightly less than one-half Brahman
blood and slightly more than one-fourth of Hereford and Shorthorn breeding.

The cattle were handled under range conditions that were often adverse,
and a culling program was started based on disposition, fertility, weight,
conformation, hardiness and milk production. Stress was placed on the production
of beef. No selection has been made to characteristics that do not affect
the carcass, such as horns, hide or color.

The Lasater Ranch breeding program provided an interesting example
of the use of mass selection in reaching a goal. Critics should recall that
other breeds have been established in a similar way - a blending of breeding
followed by selection for economically important points Uniformity in many
breeds has been achieved only after many generations of selection.

The original concepts of Tom Lasater in developing Beefmaster cattle
have continued. Selection continues for those points which were originally
used by Mr. Lasater and are now known as the Six Essentials - Weight, Conformation,
Milking Ability, Fertility, Hardiness and Disposition. Considerable progress
has been made in selecting cattle that give very satisfactory levels of production
under the practical and often severe range conditions. Satisfaction by ranchers
and creditable performance in feedlots indicate the value of stressing the
important utilitarian points in developing breeding herds.